1. Field
Embodiments described herein relate generally to the field of image processing; and more specifically, to digital image processing that enables live prevention of recording, displaying, and/or storage of unwanted images and/or videos.
2. Description of Related Art
Devices for capturing, processing, displaying, and filtering digital images and/or videos were developed over the last ten years. Some of these devices include an image processor that allows for pre-processing of a captured or stored image. Pre-processing an image includes performing at least one of noise reduction, color adjustment, white balancing, image encoding and decoding, or other pre-processes known in the art on the image so as to change the characteristics of the image before the image is recorded, displayed, and/or stored. Pre-processing, in some situations, can be performed on at least one of the images in a set of images that is being recorded and/or displayed as the images are being recorded and/or displayed. For example, pre-processing that includes image filtering to obscure visual content is described by U.S. Patent Application No. 2007/297641 to Linda Criddle et al. (hereinafter “Criddle”). In Criddle, the images used for comparison were previously recorded and stored on a central server. Thus, in order to apply Criddle's image filtering process, the reviewing and analyzing of the content is performed by a central server and not by the device that is recording or displaying the image to the user. Criddle's device, therefore, necessarily depends on a central server and a means of communication with the central server to perform a correct filtering according to Criddle's image filtering process.
Photographic filters are well known for modifying recorded images. Sometimes photographic filters are used to make only subtle changes to an image; other times the image would simply not be possible without the use of photographic filters. Some photographic filters, such as coloring filters, affect the relative brightness of different colors—for example, red lipstick may be rendered as any color from almost white to almost black with different filters. Some photographic filters change the color balance of images, so that photographs under incandescent lighting show colors as they are perceived, rather than with a reddish tinge. There are photographic filters that distort the image in a desired way—for example, diffusing an otherwise sharp image, adding a starry effect, blur or mask an image, etc.
Photographic filters have gained popularity and are available in popular apps like Instagram©, Camera+©, EyeEm©, Hipstamatic©, Aviary©, and so on. These photographic filters typically adjust, locally or globally, an image's intensity, hue, saturation, contrast, or color curves per red, green or blue color channel. Other typical functions provided by these photographic filters include modifying an image by applying color lookup tables; overlaying one or more masking filters such as a vignetting mask (darker edges and corners); cropping an image to adjust the width and height; adding borders to an image so as to generate, for example, the Polaroid effect; and combinations thereof. Different photographic filters are applied to different types of images in order to obtain an aesthetically pleasing picture. For example, as explained in an article published on Mashable's website entitled “How to Choose the Best Instagram Filter for Your Photo.” Well-known examples of photographic filters provided by, for example, the Instagram© app, are as follows:                Rise Filter© for close-up shots of people;        Hudson Filter© for outdoor photos of buildings;        Sierra Filter© for nature outdoor shots;        Lo-Fi Filter© for shots of food;        Sutro Filter© for photos of summer events, nights out, bbq's, picnics;        Brannan Filter© if image has strong shadows;        Inkwell Filter© if light and shadow are prominent in image;        Hefe Filter© if image has vibrant colors (rainbows); and so on.        
Once a user has captured or recorded an image, a photographic filter operation or combination thereof can be applied to the image in an interactive mode, where the user manually selects the filter that gives a desired aesthetic effect. Manually editing a captured or recorded photograph is known for instance from European Patent Application No. 1695548 to Benjamin N. Alton et al. and U.S. Patent Application No. 2006/0023077 to Benjamin N. Alton et al.